The Irish standard., 1887-04-02

;ATURDAY, APRIL 2, ]
all Lilly's patience, she could not help
wondering at the comparatively unin-
terested way in which her mother pro-
ceeded to wipe her spectacIes, drive her
old friend the tortoise-shell cat from her
knee, examine the seal, and smile at
the device and motto. crucible, with
.'swift yet sure" beneath, the popular
allusion of which she readily under
stood, before she gratifed the longing
ears and eyes of Lilly with a disclosure
of the contents. Kumba spoke truly
when he told James that his heart was
in it-and certainly, if mere words
ought to have made way with the widow
and her child, the appeal which it con-
tanned would not have been unsuccess-
full.
II only wish, My dear Mrs. Byrne,"
he continued, after having made his
object known in very sensible and yet
feeling manner, II only wish that you
would give me an opportunity of show
ing you that the great improperly of
conduct Ito say the least of it) of which
[ was guilty in your presence, was not
the effect of habitual but accidental ill.,
temper. 1t was an occasion which [
cannot think on without grief and
humiliation; but when you agree with
me in repfehending it, do not forget,
my dear madam, beseech you, the suf-
ferings which it has already brought
upon me.
"To your feelings, as a mother, ap-
peal for some indication of what those
sufferings must have been. Consider
how you would have felt, if any circum-
stances had excluded you from the
sick chamber and the bedside of
your daughter, your only child, whom
you loved SO tenderly, when she lay in
dangerous illness-and think whether
in the absolute necessity of those Cir
cumstances, and their being unmerited
by any act of yours, would be sufficient
to reconcile you to the priyation. Ifnot.
my dear madam, what must have been
the torture of my heart, when I had to en-
dure similar Punishment, and had not
even that Intellectual resource of secure
conscience to comfort my heart-when
/ heard, hour after hour, of some new
grief, some new calamity Detailing her
in whose happiness all mine was
centered; and yet could not but &C.
knowledge that you were all acting
right in shutting me out from her
presence, and that the suffering which
I deplored, and the agony which felt,
was all the work of my own hands
that had been the cause of my own
rejection from the paradise I sought
the cause of my poor, gentle, but justly
indignant Lilly's iilness-of your dis
pleasure-of-Oh, madam, even while
1 write, the singing of my own heart
tells me that I have done too much, and
that ought not to be heard.
Nevertheless, I send the letter as
[ have written it. If 1 should be
still doomed to suffer for that unhappy
morning, however dreadful my life may
become to me. be assured that never
even in thought will 1 entertain the
suspicion that 1 have ANYTHING to
blame but my own unprovoked and
wanton rudeness for my misery.
''RORERT KUMBA."
Mrs. Byrne slowly folded the letter,
and remained, meditating for mo-
ment, while she endeavored to make
the bowl of teaspoon float in her cup.
Lilly, whose countenaEce had changed
almost as many times as there were
sentences in the letter, during it's peru
sal, remained anxiously expecting the
speech of her mother. She had, during
the early part, manifested a degree of
warmth and appreciation Tin her look
and manner only, which, had Knmba
beheld her at the moment, would have
put him in fine spirits, but before her
mother stopped reading, the expression
of her face had altered. The tears,
which his allusiOn to her own illness
had brought into her eyes, were checked
upon the lids, the glow on her cheek be-
came fainter, the painting hope that
struggled in her bosom appeared to SUBJ
side, and slight degree of chagrin and
of. disappointment was manifest upon
her brow and lin.
Ito be continued.)
NEWS IN BRIEF.
At Washington Mrs. Nickergon No.
has secured a divorce from the gay
major who is in Canada.
Ex-Gov. Hubbard removes to Red
Wing May 1, and will, it is said. en-
gage in the grain business.
The charges that heads of depart
ments are evading the civil service rules
is denied bv the commissioners.